According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Mark Taffet has resigned as Senior Vice President of HBO Sports. The news comes just a month after HBO Sports President Ken Hershman also announced his resignation. Taffet, who had worked for HBO for 32 years, was in charge of the pay-per-view department and was an integral part in the success of superstar Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao.
Although successors for both Taffet and Hershman have yet to be named, it is believed that Vice President of Programming Peter Nelson will likely be promoted to HBO Sports President. It is unclear if Taffet and Hersman's departures are performance related, but it should be noted that last months Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux pay-per-view event underperformed, selling well under 150,000 buys (the numbers were rumored to have been as low as 97,000, though sources informed FightHype.com that they were around 120,000). Official numbers have yet to come in for last Saturday's Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez HBO pay-per-view card, but early indicators reportedly suggest a number around 900,000.
"My intention is to work with the fighters, promoters and entities that will be most directly involved in the formation of the next great era of boxing. That also includes sites, sponsors and foreign broadcasters, all the key players necessary. Most likely I'm going to speak with people who HBO is already involved with, but I will be on the other side," Taffet explained to ESPN.com, electing to continue working in more of a consultant role. "I have the passion to want to be part of it. I feel the best way to do that at this point is not with HBO, but with entities on the other side of the playing field. It will give me tremendous fulfillment. I have no intention of leaving boxing."
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